The Nature of the Biblical Material

Once again, pupils need to know that the material is a compilation where earlier writing has been worked over by editors to fit their purposes. This is not material which can be taken as if it were straightforward.

However, there are Jews and Christians who believe that Moses literally wrote down the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as instructed by God, so they do accept any biblical criticism from scholars. Both Judaism and Christianity hold these differing views within their religions and pupils should be aware of these differences in biblical interpretation by literalists and liberals.

Questions

1. How did you think the Ten Commandments came about?
2. Why can't scholars always agree about the evidence they are studying?
3. What factors lead some Jews and Christians to accept a literal and some a liberal interpretation of the Torah?
4. In what ways would it be easier if Jews and Christians could all accept similar interpretations of biblical material? Do you find it hard to accept that people within one religion disagree so fundamentally from each other about the interpretation of their scriptures?
5. What difficulties can differences in biblical interpretation lead to?

The Importance of Ritual

• Religion engages in lots of ritual. This refers to words and actions repeated in particular ways during private or public ceremonies. These practices have been established over time and incorporate traditions with particular significance for that religion. They are repeated in order to bring these into the present from the past, and carry them forward into the future.
  
  
• Ritual makes use of the symbolism of actions, objects, dress, colour, music etc. to convey its message.
  
  
• While in one sense ritual is a means of preserving and passing on religion, in another sense it can create a barrier for people outside that religion, because it can appear so odd and unrelated to everyday life that they dismiss it as 'old-fashioned' and 'irrelevant'.
  
  
• Discussion on religious ritual can lead to pupils' identifying other occasions when ritual is used to preserve and re-present customs through ceremony. There is a trend in present day society to be rid of anything that seems to 'hold back' a modern approach to living but there is at the same time an interest in community events and public rituals e.g. aspects of the millennium celebrations, special ways of behaving at Christmas even for non-Christians, singing anthems at football matches...
  
  
• It is one of the responsibilities of education to introduce young people to their culture. RE offers the opportunity to assess the importance of ritual and ceremony in all aspects of life, not just religion. Pupils may discover that human beings need these connections with the past in order to maintain key values and a sense of security to enable them to face the challenges of the future.

Questions

1. What beliefs and values are being passed on in religious rituals?
2. What sort of barriers might religious rituals produce?
3. Why might people from the past have something worthwhile to contribute to modern life through their rituals?
4. Why might rituals give people a sense of continuity and/or security?
5. Are there other reasons why some people respond positively to ritual and ceremony?
6. Why might some people feel ceremonies have lost their significance for modern life?
7. What values are being passed on in secular rituals which still take place?
8. What new ceremonies is modern society creating which will be passed on to future generations? What is their significance and value?
9. In what way might rituals be an integral part of what makes up human beings?
10. Would it be possible for a society to exist without using rituals and ceremony?

Moral Law

• Morality deals with the way people should or shouldn't behave. Judaism and Christianity have always had something to say about this, based on their belief that God has revealed absolute laws which human beings have to observe if they are to behave as God intends. Individuals are believed to be responsible for their behaviour and will be judged upon it by God. The Bible contains these laws.
  
  
• With the increasing complexities of life, Jews and Christians continue to apply their principles of law to new situations but it is not always straightforward and different views appear as, for example, regarding abortion.
  
  
• With secularism taking hold in modern society, this religious approach to moral law is questioned. It is not surprising that in a do-it-yourself and egocentric society, people appear to be opting for a do-it-yourself morality. This means that individuals compose their own set of values and code of conduct according to what they feel is right 'for them'. Thus, a relative code of conduct derived from individual standpoints is taking the place of absolute laws for society, believed to have come from God. The change is quite visible and significant for society. This area of 'right' and 'wrong' behaviour needs opening up with pupils, so that they become aware of developments in this vital area of human behaviour.

Questions

1. Which areas of life might illustrate the move from an absolute morality to a relative one?
2. What changes in society have perhaps fuelled such a trend?
3. What causes people to retreat from an absolute moral code?
4. What worries people about a relative moral code?
5. What developments in society are forcing people to face new moral dilemmas?
6. Why is hypocrisy a real enemy to morality?
7. How important is a shared moral code to the well-being of society?
8. How might society change if the Judeo-Christian moral code is cast aside?
9. Schools have codes of conduct and systems for praise and sanctions but how much attention is given to thinking about the underlying ethics - 'good', 'bad', 'right' and 'wrong' issues?

Sin

• Moral law leads to the concept of 'sin', not a very popular term in modern society! Perhaps it reminds people of religion and many wish to avoid what they consider to be 'something personal'. It is fashionable for most people to regard themselves as 'good' with only categories like drug-addicts, murderers and fraudsters seen as 'bad'. There is a reluctance to acknowledge or an inability to recognise 'sin'.
  
  
• Can 'sin' exist for a person who does not believe in God? Are those people who deny God's existence obliged to assess themselves against God's standards or do they have another measure by which to judge their personal moral performance? Does it matter? Certainly it cannot be said that atheists do not have a moral code. You do not need to be religious to live a moral life.
  
  
• This topic is one which pupils of all levels should be interested in because they are conscious that family, home and society have expectations of them in relation to their personal behaviour. They will have experienced the feelings of guilt. Pupils of all ages will be curious to find out more about what makes something 'right' or 'wrong', what causes 'guilt' and where personal responsibility lies.

Questions

1. Why are sin and religion inextricably linked?
2. Why might religious believers be more aware of sin than atheists?
3. Why was Jesus interested in identifying the inner motives for people's actions?
4. When does 'wrong-doing' become 'sin'?
5. What are the causes of guilt?
6. In what ways do people cope with their guilt?
7. In what ways are people responsible for their own behaviour?
8. Is there any evidence that the concept of 'sin' is on the way out? Why? Why not?
9. Who and what influences the development of the human conscience? Is it possible that if people are spiritually deprived, their consciences never have the opportunity to develop properly?

The Ten Commandments

• The Ten Commandments embrace laws which highlight Israel's obligations towards God as well as fellow human beings. They are interlinked: because God is who he is, then it follows that human beings are who they are. The Ten Commandments promote both the status of God and the status of human beings. By giving due respect to God, respect for human beings follows. This honouring of both God and human beings results in the flourishing of the covenant relationship and the fulfilling of God's purposes for Israel and ultimately, the world.
  
  
• Teachers find the Ten Commandments useful in triggering discussions on the place and importance of laws in society. However, it is easy to get side-tracked into concentrating on the laws directed at fellow human beings and overlook those which focus on God. God can become marginalized in the teacher's desire to interest pupils. It might appear much more attractive to concentrate on broadsheet issues like murder and adultery at the expense of the heart of the matter - the Israelites' relationship to God.
  
  
• Pupils should be presented with the original understanding of the commandments before applying them to any modern situation. The commentary on the individual commandments in 'Notes on the Text' furnishes adequate information to set them in their own context and form the basis for development by the teacher. The commandment regarding the Sabbath calls for specific observations (see below).
  
  
• It is important to bring into the discussion on the Ten Commandments (providing it is within a Christian, not Jewish context) Jesus' approach to these commandments. He wanted people to ponder the motives for their behaviour and seek to purify these (Matthew 5:17-48).

Questions

1. Why might the teacher try to avoid focusing on God?
2. Why might pupils be fascinated / 'turned off' by the concept of God?
3. Why do the beliefs people hold about God influence their beliefs about people?
4. Why does the way people treat each other reflect what they believe about the nature of human beings?
5. Are the Ten Commandments expecting too much of people?
6. Why was Jesus challenging people to consider the motives behind behaviour?
7. Is it good for people to be expected to have high standards in their personal behaviour?
8. Do people really have a choice about the way they treat each other? Why do people choose to treat others badly?
9. Are standards of behaviour dropping? Why? / Why not?

Sabbath Observance

• Pupils might have a very negative understanding of the Jewish Sabbath, perhaps as a result of learning about Jesus' challenge to the Jews of his time regarding their Sabbath observance. Jesus had been critical of laws being kept for their own sake and was encouraging the Jews to return to the life-enhancing interpretation of the Sabbath rules, to rediscover their real spirit. Originally, Sabbath restrictions had been designed to free people from the drudgery and duties of daily life, to protect space and time to perform their religious duties and develop their spiritual relationship with God.
  
  
• Pupils should be helped to see that they are not being introduced to the practices of other religions in order to pick them apart and assess them with criteria that are totally unsuitable for the job. They are not being asked whether they would like to keep the Sabbath. The introduction to new rituals, laws and practices is to enable pupils to understand their significance as far as possible, from the perspective of the religious believer who practises them, and not to pronounce some judgement on them from their own perspective.
  
  
• Jews regard the Sabbath rules as a protective barrier around a period of space and time to free them up to ensure that they can cultivate their covenant relationship with God. What non-Jews might regard as restrictive laws are not seen in that light at all by Jews. They give freedom, not prohibition.
  
  
• Pupils could be guided to think about the way time is spent in this busy, speedy and pressurised environment. Are people swept on by its momentum and deprived of opportunities to reflect about where they are heading and what is important to them? Do people need to re-evaluate their time and learn how to 'protect' some of it for the things that really matter?

Questions

1. How important is it for everyone to find time and space to reflect on things that matter to them? How possible is this in this frenetic, modern society?
2. Why is there a tendency for people to judge everything according to their own experience? Why might this be dangerous? Why is it unhelpful to pupils to be encouraged to judge the beliefs and practices of religions?
3. What stands in the way of really getting into other people's shoes?
4. Why might non-Jews see Sabbath laws as restrictive?
5. In what ways have Christians chosen to keep Sunday special? In what ways has modern society reacted against keeping Sunday special? Will a secular society need to find a substitute for the loss of Sunday observance?
6. Religions are intended to enrich people's lives, not spoil them. Do non-religious people find this so difficult to accept? Why or why not?